Power-driven, gear-operated, member-holding wrench



N. c. HARRIS POWER DRIVEN, GEAR OPERATED, MEMBER-HOLDING WRENCH June 12,1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 7. 6

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June 12, 1951 N. c. HARRIS 2,556,536

POWER DRIVEN, GEAR OPERATED, MEMBER-HOLDING WRENCH Filed Dec. 1'? 1946 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 12, 1951 D STATES POWER-DRIVEN,GEAR-OPERATED, MEMBER-HOLDING WRENCH Norman C. Harris, Los Angeles,Calif., assignor to Hillman-Kelley, Los Angeles, Calif., a partnershipApplication Dccember 17, 1946, Serial No. 716,759

10 Claims.

'the surface. These rods are manufactured in sections of convenientstandard length and usually have a threaded pin forged at eachend whichengages threaded bores at the opposite ends of intermediate couplings.

In producing an-oil well it is necessary to pull or remove the rods fromthe well from time to tim in order to make repairs to the pump, cleanout the tubing, and other forms of servicing. It is obvious that thestring of pump rods is quite long and that a considerable amount of timeis required to make and break the rod joints in order to handle the rodsin convenient lengths. This is partially due to the fact that one manualrod wrench is placed in engagement with the upper member of the rodjoint while another is placed on the lower member of the rod joint. Thelower wrench is held stationary while the upper is rotated, thusproducing relative motion between the upper and lower rods and thusscrewing or unscrewing the joint. It is desirable to provide simple andeffective means to make and break rod joints which will eliminate theuse of two manual rod holding and turning means or wrenches. It is theprincipal object of the present invention, therefore, to provide aunitized power driven rod wrench having a power driven rotatable headand being fitted with. separate rod holding means whereby the lowersection of the rod string may be held against rotation while the uppersection is being rotated.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a frame structureincluding a wrench lever and a housing for a rotating head, said framestructure carrying power drivenmeans for rotating the head in eitherdirection. and also carrying adaptable rod holding means acting to holdone rod section against rotation while the other rod section is rotatedby the power driven head.

The invention is illustrated by Way of example in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing the complete wrench andindicating by dotted lines arod joint associated therewith.

Fig. 2 is a view in central vertical section as seen on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1 and shows a yieldable supporting member for the wrench.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in plan as seen on the line 33 ofFig. 6 and shows the lower wrench holding fork.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in ver- 2 tical section as seenon the line 4-4 of'Fig. 6 and shows the wrench engaging means carried bythe rotary head.

Fig. 5 is a view in plan showing the complete power wrench.

Fig. 6 is a side view in sideelevation withparts broken away and insection showing the construction of the completepower wrench aswell asthe details of the rotary head and the holding means.

Referring more particularly to-the drawings, Ill indicates a wrenchframe comprising a'lever arm H and a rotary head housing '52. The leverarm and housing lie in the same plane and are suspended by a supportingbracket [3 carrying arms I4 to which a balance plate 15 is secured. Thesupporting bracket l3 also servesto mount the driving motor. The plateI5 is formed with a slotted opening it having a'plurality of serrationsH along the upper edge of the slot. A 'hook- 18 seats within one of theserrations. This hook, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, is connectedto a rod 59 extending longitudinally within a tubular shell 20.Theopposite end of the rod is fitted with a washer 2| while acompression spring 22 is disposed between the washer anda threaded cap23 at the end of the shell 28. The opposite end of the shell 20 isclosed by an end wall 24 carrying a hook 25. This hook engages asuspending cable 26. It will be understood that by this mechanism thewrench will be horizontally balanced and will be supported yieldably sothat the wrench can be manipulated easily to be aligned with the jointwhich is to be tightened or unscrewed. A shackle 21 may be secured tothe end of the lever ll to receive a safety line 28, if desired.

The housing 92 has a substantially circular vertical side wall 29provided with a bottom wall 30. A cover plate 3! is secured to the sidewall 29 by suitable fastening means. The bottom wall 30 is cut away toform a radial throat 32 which is centrally and longitudinally alignedwith the handle 5 I. This throat is of a width greater than that of therod joint to beacted upon and is of a radial length a sufiicientdistance greater than the radius of the housing. The throat 32 isdesigned to accommodate the joint of a pump rod, which rod is indicatedin dotted lines. in Fig. 1 of the drawing. Here it will be seen that anupper rod length 33 is provided having a squared end portion 34 formedintegral therewith. Attached by a threaded connection is acoupling 35.This is here shown as being round in section and. having a threaded bore36 therethrough. This bore receives the threaded pin 3'! of a lower rodlength 38 and the threaded pin 3'! of the upper rod length 33. Adjacentto the pin 31 the lower rod length 38 is formed with a squared portion39. It will be obvious that when the 3 squared portions 34 and 39 areaxially rotated with relation to each other that the threaded connectionwill be tightened or released. The width of the throat 32 is sufficientto accommodate the coupling 3'5 even though the coupling is rotating.

Rotatably mounted within the housing [2 is a revolving head 43. Thishead has an outer annular ring portion 4|, the periphery of whichcarries a series of spur gear teeth 42. The inner circumference of thering portion 4! has an annular inwardly projecting flange 43 whichextends into grooves 44 in a series of supporting rollers 45. Therollers 45 are mounted upon stub shafts 46 secured to the bottom wall 39of the housing l2. Interposed between the rollers and the shafts areanti-friction bearings 41 to facilitate in the free rotation of therollers. As shown in Fig. of the drawings, five of the rollers areprovided and are equally spaced around the axis of the rotary head fromone side of the throat 32 to the other side. An upper end wall 48 isformed integral with the ring portion 4| of the rotary head and projectsthrough a substantially circular opening 49 in the cover plate 3!. Thisend wall is formed with a radial slotted throat 32 which may registerwith and does agree in dimensions with the slotted throat 32 in thebottom wall 30 of the housing.

Formed as a part of the end wall 93 and extending upwardly therefrom isa substantially circular portion 53 through which the throat 32' alsoextends. The portion 53 thus provides a pair of spaced jaws 5! atopposite sides of the throat 32. between the jaws 51 is a sliding block52. This block rests upon a ledge 53 and is restrained from verticalmovement by a plate 54. The block is formed with a central throat 55having opposite flat side walls agreeing substantially with the oppositefiat faces of the portion 34 of the rod length 33. It will be evidentthat when the portion 34 of the rod length is properly positioned withinthe throat 55 the parts will be held against relative rotation. A lug 56is formed upon the upper face of the sliding block and receives a pin51. This pin passes through the arms of a latch member 33. The memberhas a handle 59 at its free end which may be swung downwardly to assumean abutting position with relation to lugs 60 projecting upwardly fromthe plate 54. This permits the block 52 to be moved forwardly so thatthe jaws forming the throat 55 will straddle the squared portion 34 ofthe rod length 33 and will insure that the block 52 will be held againstretraction so long as the handle 59 is in abutment with the lugs 63. Astop plate 6! limits the forward movement of the block 52.

The spur gear teeth 42 carried on the outer circumference of the ringportion 4| engage pinions or idler gears 62, which in turn engage a gearpinion 62 which is mounted upon drive shaft 63. The purpose of idlergears 62 is to bridge throat 32' while ring portion 4! is rotating, andthus to enable the ring portion 4! to be driven regardless of theposition of throat 32. The drive shaft 33 is carried in suitablebearings in the housing and is here shown as being disposed vertically.The upper end of the shaft extends into a driving mechanism, which maybe pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical or other drivmg means, as indicatedin structure 34. This driving mechanism must be able to drive in both aforward and reverse direction and it is controlled by lever 65. Thedetails of this d l Mounted within the throat 32 and l mechanism are nota part of the present invention and will not be further described.

Disposed beneath the rotary head structure enclosed within the housing12 is a holding fork 61. This fork carries jaws 63 between which athroat 69 occurs. The throat 69 is of a width substantially equal to thewidth of the squared portion 39 of the lower rod section 38. The fork6'! is formed with an arcuate slotted opening 79 which is concentricwith the center of the throat 69 and theapproximate axis of the lowerrod length 38 when seated therein. The slot I0 is formed in a tonguedportion H of the fork Bi and this tongued portion fits between spacedmembers 12 and 73 where it is articulately held by pin 14 and an arcuateshoulder on either side of jaws 63. This arcuate shoulder is concentricwith the slot 19. This permits the fork 67 to rotate about the imaginarycenter in throat 99. This rotation is limited by the action of pin TM inarcuate slot it. This mechanism permits the fork to adapt itself to thesquared portion 39 of the rod length 38 regardless of its angularposition, and therefore, slot 30 must have at least degrees of arc. Themembers l2 and 13 are a part of an arm 16 which extends beneath therotary head structure and is suitably spaced therefrom to engage thesquared portion 39 of the lower rod length 38 while the squared portion34 of the upper rod length is engaged in the throat 55. The arm 75 ismounted upon a horizontal pivot pin ll carried by a bracket E3. Thebracket 78 extends downwardly from beneath the bottom wall 33 of thehousing 52 and thus provides a support which will allow the fork 91 toadjust itself vertically. A spring '59 is connected with the arm l3 andthe bracket '58 tending to support the fork 6! in a substantiallyhorizontal position while yieldably holding it in place. A handle 89 issecured to the fork to permit the manipulation of the fork around theimaginary center of throat 39 and the pivot T, and suitable handles 8|are provided at opposite sides of the rotary head structure tofacilitate moving the wrench.

In operation of the present invention, the revolving head 33 is set sothat the throat 32 will be clear and so that the throat 55 of the block52 will be in line therewith. The block 52 will be iri the forwardposition with handle 58 in front of lugs 63 on plate 54 as shown in Fig.l. The wrench, as supported from the cable 29, may be then swunghorizontally to position it astride the squared end portion 3:1 of therod length 33. At this same time the fork 6? will move to a positionastride the squared portion 39 of the lower rod section 33. This willcause the throat 69 to partially embrace and hold the squared portion39, and in the event the squared portions 34 and 3-9 are not in exactaxial alignment the fork 61 may adjust itself as tongued portion 1!slides between members 52 and F3 being limited by the action of pin 74in slot "Ill. When thewrench has come to rest properly with the portions34 and 39 both engaged, the motive power can then be applied causing therotation of head 40 and block 52 with its jaws holding the squared endportion 34 and thus imparting this rotation to rod length 33. At thispoint any tendency for rod length 33 to rotate is limited by its beingheld on squared portion 39 by fork 6'1. The direction of rotation iscontrolled by the driving mechanism and is determined by whether the rodjoints are being screwed together or unscrewed. In making up the rods,or screwing them together,

eassacse throat32. In order to effectthis alignment it is necessary torelease the block 52 from engagementwith squared portion 34. This isdone by retracting the block 52 by lifting handle 58 to ,move crossmember 59 fromcontact'with lugs Bil. The block 52 may then beretraetedby means of string. In breaking out or unscrewing rod length33-retraction of block 52, as described; is not necessary sincerodlength once screwed, is free torevolve with rotatable head ifluntilthroats 32 and 32 are in alignment. The power wrench is then swung clearof the rod string. When the power'wrench is applied to a joint of a rodstring, as hereinbeforedescribed, it will be evident that no otherholding means are required than those incorporated in the wrenchstructure. This eliminates the use of a second wrench or holdback on"the lower rod length and insures that the operation of .making andbreaking the rod joints in the string of rods can be performed rapidlyand by a relatively :few members of the well crew, and also eliminatesthe necessity of hammering the rod joints, which is injurious to the rodjoints.

It will thus be seen that the wrench here disclosed is comparativelysimple in construction, that it maybe operated rapidly to engage theparts of a rod joint, and that the joint may be quickly broken or set upby a power action and without the use of any other holding means savethose incorporated in the wrench structure.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known-tome, it will be understood that various changes may bemade .in thecombination, construction and arrangement of parts by those skilled inthe art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, -.what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A power wrench comprising a main frame structure providing a handleat one end and a housing at the opposite end, a throat formed throughthe side wall and bottom wall of said housing to accommodate a rod jointto be operated upon, said throat extending radially from the center axisof the housing, a ring gear rotatably mounted in said housing and havinga-eutaway channel agreeing with the width of the housing throat, spurgear teeth formed around the outer circumference of said ring gear, agear pinion rotatably mounted in the housing and in mesh with saidteeth, a sliding block mounted in the channel and having a threatportion to engage an upper rod joint section to rotate the same, meansfor latching said block in its engaging position, a holding forkdisposed beneath the housing, said fork having a throat adapted toengage a lower rod joint section and hold it against relative rotationtherewith, an arm pivotally mounted upon the housing and therebeneathand carrying said fork, said arm swinging upon an axis normal to thelongitudinal axis of the rod joint, and means yieldably holding the armin. a normal position.

2. The structure of claim 1 including an articulate connection betweenthe free end of the arm and the fork whereby the fork may adapt itselfto the lower rod joint section in a plane substantially normal to thelongitudinal axis of the rod joint.

3. In a power driven wrench, a frame structure, a housin formed as apart thereof; a transverse throat in said housing into which an articleto be rotated may pass, a rotary head mounted within said housing andhaving a transverse throat-adapted to register with the throat in thehousing, the width of said throat being greater than the width of themember to be rotated, a forked throat block slidable within the throatof the rotating member and adapted to engage the member to be rotatedwhereby the rotating mem her and the member to be rotated will revolvein unison around a common axis, and means for retracting the slidableblock from its engaging position, whereby the member to be rotatedwillbe free from the rotating member.

4. In a wrench, a rotary head structure for positively engaging anelement and rotating the element around its central axis, said headstructure including a housing and a rotary member within said housingand mounted to rotate around the central axis thereof, radial slots, oneformed within the housing and the other formed within the rotary member,said slots forming throats designed to register when axially ad'- justedand being of a width to receive an element to rotated without positivelyengaging the same, a block slidable within the throat of the rotatableelement and form-ed with means designed to positively engage therotatable element, me ns normally locking said element in its engagingposition, and a mounting for said block whereby it may be retracted fromits engaging position to free the rotatable element.

'In a power wrench for connecting and disconnecting, by use of a drivingmotor, threaded members having a common axis and respectively providingsquared portions, the combination of: a housing; a rotary head rotatablymounted in said housing and providing a first jaw means engaging one ofsaid squared portions in driving relationship; means for operativelyconnecting said rotary head and said driving motor to turn said head insaid housing and about said axis; a second jaw means engaging the otherof said squared portions in holding relationship; means for operativelyconnecting said second jaw means to said housing to swing relative tosaid housing about said axis; and stop means for limiting the degree ofsaid swinging movement of said second jaw means whereby said second jawmeans can be swung to engage said other squared portion and can bethereafter swung by the motor-in duced turning of said head intoengagement with said stop means to initiate the holding of said othersquared-portion during continued motorinduced rotation of said head.

6. In a power wrench for connecting and disconnecting, by use of adriving motor, threaded members having a common axis and respectivelyproviding squared portions, the combination of a housing; a rotary headrotatably mounted in said housing and providing a first jaw meansengaging one or" said squared portions in driving relationship; meansfor operatively connecting said rotary head and said driving motor toturn said head in said housing and about said axis; an arm; means forpivoting said arm to swing on an axis normal to said common axis andspaced therefrom; a second jaw means of a size to grasp and restrainsaid other squared portion; and an articulate connection between saidarm and said second jaw means and connecting said 7 :second jaw means toturn through a limited angle about said common axis.

7. In a power wrench for connecting and disconnecting, by use of adriving motor, threaded members having a comm-on axis and respectivelyproviding squared portions, the combination of I a housing; a rotaryhead rotatably mounted in said housing and providin a first jaw meansengaging one of said squared portions in driving relation- .ship; meansfor operatively connecting said rotary head and said driving motor toturn said head in said housing and about said axis; an arm member; a jawmember of a size to grasp and restrain said other squared portion; anarcuate tongue carried by one of said members, the other of said membersproviding an arcuate channel in which said tongue can swing, said tongueand channel lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to said axis;and means for interconnecting said members for limited movement of.

said jaw member relative to said arm member in said plane and about saidaxis.

8. A combination as defined in claim 7 in which said connecting meansincludes an arcuate slot in said tongue formed concentrically withrespect to said axis, and a pin carried by said other member andextending through said arcuate slot, engagement between said pin and theends of said slot limiting the swinging movement of said jaw member.

9. In a power wrench for screwing together and unscrewing, by use of adriving motor, a rod joint composed of a coupling receiving threadedends of upper and lower rod lengths each providing a squared portion,the combination of t a frame structure providing a housing having anopen throat extending inwardly from the periphery of said housing to aposition beyond the central axis of said housing; a revolving head rotatably mounted in said housing to turn about said axis and having a throatalignable with said throat of said housing and of sufficient size toreceive said coupling and to permit free rotation of said coupling insaid throat of said head; means for driving said head from said drivingmotor; a first jaw means operatively connected to the upper end of saidrevolving head for grasping and turning said squared portion of saidupper rod length; a second jaw means attached to the bottom of saidhousing for graspi ing and restraining the turning of said squaredportion of said lower rod length, said first and second jaw means beingspaced from each other a vertical distance greater than the axial lengthof said coupling, said coupling being free from rotational restraint inthe zone between said first and second jaw means and in said throat ofsaid revolving head; and means for operatively disconnecting one of saidjaw means from its squared portion.

10. In a power wrench for screwing together upper and lower threadedmembers by use of a driving motor, the combination of: a frame structureproviding a housing having a throat formed through the side wall and endwall of said housing to accommodate the rod joint, said throat extendinginwardly from the periphery of the housing to a position beyond thecentral axis thereof; a series of rollers rotatably mounted in saidhousing to turn about respective axes disposed on a circle drawn aboutsaid central axis to dispose said rollers as an arcuate series, the endrollers of said series being respectively on opposite sides of saidthroat; a revolving head providing a ring gear internally rolling on theexternal surfaces of said rollers and providing external teeth, saidring gear being cut away at one position to provide a throat alignablewith said throat of said housing, said throats being of substantiallyequal width; a pair of gear pinions engaging said teeth and spaced fromeach other a sufiicient distance to span said throat of said ring gearas said ring gear turns; means for driving each of said gear pinionsfrom said driving motor; and means for operatively connecting saidrevolving head to one of said threaded members, said last-named meansbeing displaced axially from the mid plane of the teeth of said ringgear.

NORMAN C. HARRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 306,588 7 Cronin -1 Oct. 14, 1884595,975 Shryock Dec. 21, 1897 1,386,345 McGowan et al Aug. 2, 19211,824,300 Rowland Sept. 22, 1931 2,000,221 Dawson May 7, 1935 2,251,309Watson Aug. 5, 1941 2,305,624 Lange et a1 Dec. 22, 1942

